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Symbian Strategic Management Term Paper
Lakshminarasimhan SundararajanSection B LT2
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Company/ Product Background
The Symbian Foundation is a non profit organisation createdin 2008 that stewards the Symbian platform.
Symbian grew out of software developed by Psion an
innovator in mobile computing
It was formed in 1998 as joint venture between Nokia ,Motorola and Ericssion in 1998 as Symbian Limited.
Symbian software was at the base of more than 100 millionmobile phones by 2006.
In 2008, Nokia purchased all the shares of Symbian andstarted down the Open Source route as a non profitorganisation.
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Target market
Smart phones manufacturers andApplication developers(Convergence,more bang for the buck)
Smart phones are equipped with PC like with bellsand whistles.
Phones equipped for fast processing and a number ofapplications.
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Competition/ Strategic group
Market Share in Smartphone OS category
Source:Canalys report 2009
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PEST
Political
Governments allowing more spectrum to be auctioned
for telecommunication thus increasing the availablebandwidth thus allowing new technology standards tobe implemented.
Economic
Consumers in the world spent a large portion of theirdisposable income on smart phones in year 2009.
Social
Users demanding different kinds of applications ontheir phone for business and pleasure.
Technological
Convergence Increasing use of internet and ubiquitous computing
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Five Forces on the Smartphone
industry(World)
Threat of New
Entrants
Bargaining power
of buyers
Bargaining powerof Suppliers
Threat ofSubstitutes
CompetititiveRivalry
Its unattractive forexisting players
Verdict
Med
Low
High
High
High
Maemo
Less switching cost asmore players available
PDAs, Ipad, TabletPcs
Intense competitionbetween the existingplayers
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Strategic Maps
Symbian
RIM
Apple
MicrosoftDistribution
UI/ design
Conclusion: BothDistribution and
UI design are KSFsin the industry
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Strategic Maps
Symbian
RIM
Apple
Microsoft
Applications
Brand
Conclusion: Both
Applications andBrand are KSFs in
the industry
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Strategic Maps
Symbian
RIM
Apple
MicrosoftTec
hnologicalinnovation
Multitasking
Conclusion:Technological
innovation is a KSFwhile Multitaskingis threshold
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KSFs and Threshold factors
1) Distribution scale(Tie ups with handset manufacturers/alliances)
2) UI / Design(Ease of use/Usability)
3) Applications(Productive ,Leisure, Compatible)
4) Brand
5) Technological Innovation(Use of new technologies/ standards like3G, 4G WiFi)
Key Success Factors
Threshold Factors
1) Multi tasking
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Competitive matrix
KSF's Symbian Microsoft RIM Apple Google Weights
Distribution scale 9 6 8 6 5 50%
UIDesign(Usability) 7 7 7 9 6 20%
Applications 9 5 6 7 5 20%
Brand 6 9 7 9 9 5%
TechnologicalInnovation 7 7 7 9 9 5%
8.35 6.2 7.3 7.1 5.6
Market Share 47% 9% 21% 15% 5%
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Future Competitive Matrix
KSF's Symbian Microsoft RIM Apple Google Weights
Distribution scale 9 6 8 7 7 20%
UIDesign(Usability) 7 7 7 9 8 15%
Applications 9 5 6 7 7 40%
Brand 7 9 7 9 9 5%
TechnologicalInnovation 9 7 7 9 9 30%
9.5 6.8 7.5 8.7 8.55
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Company Vision Mission Values
Mission: Is to enable a global business ecosystem that collaboratesto create the richest and most satisfying mobile user
experiences..
Vision: Is to become the most widely used software platform on theplanet
Values: Collaborative , Open , Passionate and Inspired
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Company Competencies(Ladder)
Resources
StrategicCompetencies
Incompetencies
PeripheralCompetencies
DistinctiveCompetencies
ThresholdCompetencies
Sustainable CompetitiveAdvantage
Competitive Advantage
Financial Muscle ofNokia
Distribution Channels R&D Organizational Structure Large Developer
Community Robustness Flexibility Alliance Relationships Design
Design
FinancialMuscle
R&D
Robustness Flexibility
DistributionChannels
AllianceRelationships
OrganizationalStructureLarge DeveloperCommunity
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Long Term objectives
To be Self Sustainable in 5 yearsBy reducing costs by 30%(Financial)
Create a Sustainable Innovation Engine within 5
years. (Strategic)
Create an Ecosystem for Developers and devicemanufacturers within next 5 years. (Strategic)
Maintain the position of market leader and increasemarket share to 60% in 3 years. (Strategic)
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KSFs Competencies and Value
Proposition(Triangle)Future KSFs
ApplicationsTechnological
InnovationDistribution
DesignBrand
StrategicCompetencies
Organizational
Structure Large DeveloperCommunity
Robustness Flexibility Alliance
Relationships
Value Proposition : Create products that substantially improve andaugment the functionality of mobile devices and networks which will
have profound beneficial impacts on consumers, business, andsociety as a whole .
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SWOT STRENGTHS1 Financial Muscle of NokiaS2. Extensive Robust Code BaseS3. Large developer community
S4. Alliance Relationships
S5. Small and flexible organisation
S6. Distribution Scale
WEAKNESS
W1 UI Design
W2. Brand Awareness
OPPORTUNITY
O1. New technological standards
like 3G, 4G being implemented
by Telco's
O2. A variety of Applications
being demanded by the end users
O3. Increasing use of internet
through mobile devices
THREAT
T1. Increasing competition
T2. Nokia switching to Android/
Maemo for smart phones
T3. Developers find it more
lucrative to develop for Iphone as
the customers are easier to reach.
Support new Technological
standards in the platform (S1,S3,O1)
Plat form must support easydevelopment and deployment of
applications (S3,S4,S2,O2)
Platform must have quick releasesof 6 months each yet have
backward compatibility(S2,S5,O3)
Build UI to facilitate intensivegraphics functionality(O1, O2,
W1)
Increase Brand Awarenessthrough information campaign
in social media( W2, O3)
Understand and develop a betterrelationship with developers,
alliance members(S3,S4,T1,T2)
Developers can write once andsell in volumes to mass market
through Symbian store(S6, T3)
Concentrate on top end UIdesign/widgets ( T1, W1)
Create a transparent system tokeep developers informed of
new enhancements coming in
Symbian and their benefits.(W2,
T2,T3)
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Options Filter
Recommendations
Mission
VisionValues LTO
Value
Proposition Score` Accept
Weights 0.4 0.3 0.3
Support new Technological standards in
the platform (S1,S3, O1) 8 8 7 7.7 Yes
Plat form must support easy development
and deployment of applications
(S3,S4,S2,O2) 9 8 6 7.8 Yes
Platform must have quick releases of 6
months each yet have backward
compatibility(S2,S5,O3) 7 7 10 7.9 Yes
Build UI to facilitate intensive graphics
functionality(O1, O2, W1) 5 2 2 3.2
Increase Brand Awareness through
information campaign in social media( W2,
O3) 4 6 2 4
Understand and develop a better
relationship with developers, alliancemembers(S3,S4,T1,T2) 10 10 8 9.4 Yes
Developers can write once and sell in
volumes to mass market through Symbian
store(S6, T3) 9 10 10 9.6 Yes
Concentrate on top end UI design/widgets
( T1, W1) 8 6 4 6.2
Create a transparent system to keep
developers informed of new enhancements
coming in Symbian and theirbenefits.(W2,T2,T3) 8 9 3 6.8
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Short and Long term recommendations
Create a Symbian Store tofacilitate Developers to reach
the customer(S6,T3)
Support the new Technologicalstandards like 802.11 n , 4G in
the new platform(S1,S3,O1)
Creation of one click installand deployment module for
applications over the internetonto the smart phone
(S3,S4,S2,O2)
Create small teams tocollaborate with alliance
partners and developers toreduce cycle time of launches
(S2,S5,O3)
Creation of a Symbianfeedback mechanism through
social media, informal events,workshops to understandconcerns of developers and
alliance partners(S3,S4,T1,T2)
Short term Long Term
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ANSOFF-LN Innovation Strategy Framework
IncrementalInnovation
CollaborativeInnovation
Application
Innovation
DisruptiveInnovation
Spillover
LearningCurve
RelationshipBuilding
Gapidentification
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Sources/ References
1. Symbian Foundation :http://symbian.org2. Canalys Report on Smartphone Industry3. Business Week4. Wikipedia5. Geoffrey Moore Crossing the chasm6. Clayton Christensen Disruptive innovation